Here’s why Slate changed the battery in its cheap EV truck

[buster]

Pretty good article.

Summary: LFP has gotten cheaper and better, and also cancelling buy America has allowed them to source cells from China.


How Slate pulled that off illustrates just how significantly the battery market in the U.S. has changed in the past four years.

The other reason automakers passed over LFP batteries was their limited range. Automakers selling into the U.S. market have prioritized range, though vehicles that can travel more than 300 miles on a charge tend to be pricey — pretty much the opposite of what Slate is going for.

In reality, most people don’t need that much range, and as charging networks have grown in size, reach, and speed, range anxiety is gradually waning. While LFP cells will never match NMC in energy density, modern variations of the chemistry have helped close the gap. Ford, GM, Rivian, and Tesla all offer models that use LFP cells.



https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/heres-why-slate-changed-the-battery-in-its-cheap-ev-truck/

 

[dogememe]

Decent article. Although I will say I like the modular EV batteries like what GM does... in theory it'll be easier to repair/rebuild in the future. However, then they do dumb stuff like make the pyro fuse a non-replacable part so you have to replace the entire pack any time your airbags go off. Pretty dumb.

So while cell to pack is more efficient and cheaper, it's not always better. In 10 years there will be many people repairing/rebuilding GM EV packs given that except for the LFP Bolt the Ultium stuff all has the same cells. Very few people will be fixing Tesla packs. I'm not hating on Tesla, I like both, but just worth mentioning.

The reason I bring it up is the Slate truck is supposed to be DIY/repair shop friendly and now the most expensive component in the whole vehicle isn't. Still, from a cost and scaling perspective I think it was the right call. Just not better in every way.

 

[GON]

Interesting article, thanks for posting.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Pretty good article.

Summary: LFP has gotten cheaper and better, and also cancelling buy America has allowed them to source cells from China.


How Slate pulled that off illustrates just how significantly the battery market in the U.S. has changed in the past four years.

The other reason automakers passed over LFP batteries was their limited range. Automakers selling into the U.S. market have prioritized range, though vehicles that can travel more than 300 miles on a charge tend to be pricey — pretty much the opposite of what Slate is going for.

In reality, most people don’t need that much range, and as charging networks have grown in size, reach, and speed, range anxiety is gradually waning. While LFP cells will never match NMC in energy density, modern variations of the chemistry have helped close the gap. Ford, GM, Rivian, and Tesla all offer models that use LFP cells.



https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/24/heres-why-slate-changed-the-battery-in-its-cheap-ev-truck/

I respectfully disagree with "In reality, most people don’t need that much range,"
300 mile range is not 300 miles. You don't charge to 100%, even though LFP gains a little because you can charge higher. At least that was Tesla's guidance when they used LFP in the Model 3.

Of course you don't drive down to zero either. I've found 300 mile range rating is the sweet spot. You can easily travel 200+ miles without a care on your overnight charge.

Now, on a vehicle like the Slate, with its price target (and market target), less range is gonna be part of the deal. For a daily use runaround, it can make sense. $25K ain't a lotta scratch nowadays, gas is expensive, small trucks are super handy. The add-ons will allow for use case and want customization.

But it should a been a king cab. Just my 2 cents...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I've been liking what I am seeing with the Slate. I can live with the range.
Non spaceship EV Exactly what I want.

The range isn't the best but for just running to work and back, it'll be a perfect low budget commuter.

Going to try to hold out with my current fleet of junkers until 2028 when I can probably buy one retail. Will just use our Sentra for longer work trips.

 

[JoelB]

LFP battery in my new Bolt. I'm an EV noobie but i liked the fact they they are supposed to be pretty durable over a lot of charging cycles. 10 miles round trip to work makes range pretty minor for me.

 

[OVERKILL]

I didn’t hear anything about canceling the “ buy America” thing. What do you have on that? Thanks.

 

[alarmguy]

I respectfully disagree with "In reality, most people don’t need that much range,"
300 mile range is not 300 miles. You don't charge to 100%, even though LFP gains a little because you can charge higher. At least that was Tesla's guidance when they used LFP in the Model 3.

Of course you don't drive down to zero either. I've found 300 mile range rating is the sweet spot. You can easily travel 200+ miles without a care on your overnight charge.

Now, on a vehicle like the Slate, with its price target (and market target), less range is gonna be part of the deal. For a daily use runaround, it can make sense. $25K ain't a lotta scratch nowadays, gas is expensive, small trucks are super handy. The add-ons will allow for use case and want customization.

But it should a been a king cab. Just my 2 cents...

I think many are looking at this truck wrong,
If your a contractor, local trades HVAC, Plumbing, Pest Control, Power washing, not necessarily a typical consumer in a country where $45,000 is a common price for a vehicle, range wont matter and if you are the owner of the company, a cheap way to have an inexpensive (in theory) fleet of small trucks to have your workers drive around in with little to no maintenance requirements would seem like a win.
Ps. I won't hold my breath to see if you can actually buy the truck for 25k, if so a win for small business.

 

[gman2304]

When production actually starts, no buyer will be able to get ‘ out the door ‘ for less than 30K.

 

[OM617YOTA]

205 miles range wouldn't bother me at all, that'd cover 99% of my driving. Even cut that in half, only cycling between 25% and 75% state of charge, would still handle 90% of my driving. My work commute is 50 miles/day round trip. Could even charge at 120v and still keep up with my needs.

I like LFP. Used bare LFP cells when I built my solar power system, my cells were destined for EVs but didn't make the grade for whatever reason, packs were broken down and cells sold individually on the secondary market. It's been fantastic for years now, any day now I'll pass 4 megawatts through the system, batteries still pull full capacity. Great choice for a utility EV battery.

 

[GON]

Yesterday while walking to my rental car in a hospital parking lot in Seattle, I saw a very late model F150 ICE that was owned by the hospital for landscape maintenance.

A electric vehicle likely would have a better payoff as a maintenance vehicle at a dedicated facility than a ICE.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

When production actually starts, no buyer will be able to get ‘ out the door ‘ for less than 30K.

Oh , I'm sure they will be available out the door for under $30k*

*For the 2027 model year , then in February of 2027 they will release the 2028 model with a significant price increase. Just like Ford did with the Maverick.

 

[OM617YOTA]

And I'll buy a 2027 model in 2030 for $15k.

 

[PandaBear]

I respectfully disagree with "In reality, most people don’t need that much range,"
300 mile range is not 300 miles. You don't charge to 100%, even though LFP gains a little because you can charge higher. At least that was Tesla's guidance when they used LFP in the Model 3.

Of course you don't drive down to zero either. I've found 300 mile range rating is the sweet spot. You can easily travel 200+ miles without a care on your overnight charge.

Now, on a vehicle like the Slate, with its price target (and market target), less range is gonna be part of the deal. For a daily use runaround, it can make sense. $25K ain't a lotta scratch nowadays, gas is expensive, small trucks are super handy. The add-ons will allow for use case and want customization.

But it should a been a king cab. Just my 2 cents...

People buy a towing capacity for a boat they will buy sometimes into the future. Whether they need 300 mile range isn't the point, but that "someday" people will go on a family road trip that may use the 300 mile range is the point.

 

[PandaBear]

Yesterday while walking to my rental car in a hospital parking lot in Seattle, I saw a very late model F150 ICE that was owned by the hospital for landscape maintenance.

A electric vehicle likely would have a better payoff as a maintenance vehicle at a dedicated facility than a ICE.

That is exactly the point. Just because you see it is using for landscape maintenance doesn't mean they will always be for landscape maintenance.

They may also happen to be a fleet purchase that gets a huge discount if they buy 30 at a time instead of 29 + 1 separately, or they still need 30 and then buy 3 just in case they can't rotate dedicate vehicles around as needed.

 

[Rand]

205 miles range wouldn't bother me at all, that'd cover 99% of my driving. Even cut that in half, only cycling between 25% and 75% state of charge, would still handle 90% of my driving. My work commute is 50 miles/day round trip. Could even charge at 120v and still keep up with my needs.

I like LFP. Used bare LFP cells when I built my solar power system, my cells were destined for EVs but didn't make the grade for whatever reason, packs were broken down and cells sold individually on the secondary market. It's been fantastic for years now, any day now I'll pass 4 megawatts through the system, batteries still pull full capacity. Great choice for a utility EV battery.

its not gas range. highway turns your 205 mile ev range into 120 highway speed miles in winter

You can buy this for 30k out the door with crank windows and no radio or a subaru with 335hp awd 280mile range for 38k
and all the normal car goodies...
(or fwd and 221hp 300+ mile range for 35k)
not sure the market will be there when this actually ships.

This reminds me of the cybertruck launch reservations where they burned through "12 months of reservations" with a buy rate of under 3%

 

[OM617YOTA]

and all the normal car goodies...

Stop trying to sell it to me, I'm already interested. The Slate not having the "normal car goodies" is an upgrade, not a downgrade!

120 highway miles in the winter would still handle 90% of my driving. I'd just want to charge every day instead of every other or every third day.

 

[Rand]

Stop trying to sell it to me, I'm already interested. The Slate not having the "normal car goodies" is an upgrade, not a downgrade!

120 highway miles in the winter would still handle 90% of my driving. I'd just want to charge every day instead of every other or every third day.

well put your money where your mouth is and do that non refundable deposit to get in line for one
I hope they do well but for every 100 people that say they are going to buy one now I doubt 5 buy it.

I would have happily signed up for one of those unobtainable $20k mavericks but at 30k+ not so hot on one.

 

[zzyzzx]

The range might not even be an issue. If they really want people to buy these things in large numbers people need to be able to charge at home. This means that that the target consumer is someone who is charging at home with a 120V 15A outlet. Not sure what kind of range you are going to get doing that unless you can charge to 100% on weekends.

 

[OM617YOTA]

well put your money where your mouth is and do that non refundable deposit to get in line for one
I hope they do well but for every 100 people that say they are going to buy one now I doubt 5 buy it.

I would have happily signed up for one of those unobtainable $20k mavericks but at 30k+ not so hot on one.

Nah, not putting a single cent on it without driving it first. Also, like I said, I'll buy a 2027 model in 2030 for half price. Let someone else take the financial hit, let someone else be beta tester for an entirely new vehicle. My Land Cruiser just hit 100k miles, I'm in no rush.